Recent content by tomplatten

I am glad your uncle made it back and continued to serve after WWII. My Uncle Jack flew in B-24 as a Bombardier. He was shot down twice and managed to avoid capture. My Dad was a Bombardier in B-17s and was shot down on his 6th mission over Blechhammer. His plane was approached by an Me 110 head...

The Important thing was that he came back! Mine did not! He made it to 23 years old and was killed and died four months before I was born and I miss him everyday!

I read in some publication years ago that the B-25 was considered by many to be the MOST useful plane in the WWII inventory. IMHO I would tend to agree! What do you think guys?

I spent my military obligation in the Coast Guard from 1968 to 1972. I was stationed at Governor's Island, NY on the base and on floating units as an Engineman (NOW CALLED MACHINERY TECH). I spent a brief period picking up high ranking officiers at Floyd Bennet Field and ferrying them back to...

Interesting that they should choose Arlington. After WWII. I was told the unidentified remains of crewmembers of aircraft were to be buried with full military honors in the National Cemetary most centrally located to the surviving relatives. That is why my Dad was buried at Jefferson Barracks in...

I appreciate your offer of a ticket. Unfortuately I am working at the Orange Empire Railway Museum restoring a 1939 locomotive to operational status. We are close to the end so I am needed there! I will take advantage of the days during the month when I can get in!

I was told that the Wildcat was upgraded during WWII and remained in service throughout the war. Was the Wildcat's performance improved significantly through the upgrades? Also I was also told that Jeep carriers used the Wildcats because the Hellcats were not able to land on the smaller carriers.

Since the vast majority of the planes at the airshow appear to be "resident" aircraft stationed at the museum, I generally only attend every third year. The airshow is pricing my out of the loop being retired on a fixed income. I always look forward to Veterans Day when I get get into the Planes...